Chapter 15 : The longest day of my life (Frantic rescue)

 

The Moon’s home, Kew Garden, Queens, New York, 25th of January, 08:22

 

As I am pacing nervously into Cindy’s home, rubbing my temples, I keep blaming myself for what just happened.

 

It’s plain and simple, I’ve screwed up.

 

I should’ve known yesterday that events would conspire to make her life, and mine today by happenstance, miserable.

 

Once I remembered the slight, little, detail, the whole reason I had to rush my timetable that hard, forcing me to brazingly walk into the Institute with a gaggle of coerced teenagers, I immediately left Gwen at school to find one of Cindy’s friends.

 

By chance, I ran into one of her hockey team members, and also boyfriend if what I gathered from sniffing in his mind was more than fantasy, yuck by the way, Hector Cervantez, who happened to know her address.

 

A hop, a skip, and a battleform later, I had come as fast as I could while remaining as discreet as possible.

 

I found both of her parents worryingly pacing in her home, her father, Albert, notably more anxious than his wife Nami, basically telepathically broadcasting to the whole country with how loud they screamed it in their mind that they were starting to regret their decision.

 

Fearing that I would lose any more time than I already had, I put them to sleep before entering and that’s when I took a look at their memories.

 

Good news : It wasn’t Ezekiel Sims that came knocking when their daughter accidently webbed both of their asses this morning, complaining all the while that the world was in slow-mo’ and that everything was so loud, so bright and so itchy.

 

Which made sense, in a way. Sims was a world-hopper, using his powers to hide himself on Earth-616, and, now that I think about it, there was no reason for him to come here if he was already hiding or getting his ass handed to him by dear Pete over there.

 

Bad news : In a perfectly logical reaction, Nami Moon, true to her helicopter mom form, chose to take action when the situation spiraled out of control this morning.

 

And so, she naturally called Oscorp once she ripped out of her daughter a testimony of yesterday’s events.

 

Even if it wasn’t rocket science, props to her for making the link that something sketchy happening during yesterday’s school tour that her daughter attended equaled her progeny being able to spew silk out of her fingers, I guess.

 

But I’m certainly not condoning her immediately calling the known to be contracted to the army world spanning company to basically tell them she had a human weapon in her arms and didn’t know what to do about it, could they send help, please ?

 

The convoy that had taken away Cindy had arrived at her home at 07:47.

 

She, and I by extension, was in so much trouble that it wasn’t even funny.

 

“[Worry, shame] : What are we going to do ?” My blood-sister finally asks as I stop berating myself for a breath.

 

Iris is as upset as me because she too forgot, too over eager that we found a home at first and then too busy watching the dramatic clusterfuck that had been my reunion with Gwen.

 

I sigh, watching out mentally for any spying devices.

 

“I don’t see any solution other than march right into the Oscorp tower, wiping any hard drive and mind in the know along the way, and rescue her.” I answer under my breath.

 

“[Worry] : Your telepathy still hasn’t stabilized, are you sure it’s the only way ?” She asks for the sake of it.

 

We both know my answer.

 

“I won't let them play with her like she’s their fucking lab rat for even one more second if I can stop it.” I answer harshly, brows furrowed.

 

She doesn’t take offense because she knows that I’m not mad at her but at both myself and those pricks, a single [Agreement] answering my diatribe.

 

As the bodies of the two Moon telekinetically rise in the air on their way towards the couch, I step near them, touching both of their temples.

 

Today, the both of them were taking a day off work to be all lovey dovey at home without their daughter and that is all they will remember.

 

I’m also sending Cindy’s mom to the Astral plane for a bit to make sure she stops attempting to control every inch of the lives of her household because I’m extremely pissed at her.

 

When it rains, it fucking pours.

 

***

PMC “Shadow Blade” convoy, en route to the Oscorp Tower, Queens-Midtown tunnel, New York, the same day, 08:35, in Dale Stavinsky’s mind

 

“Why are we stopping ?” Nicholson asked.

 

Dale looked up from the rifle he was nursing toward his commanding officer to see what the fuss was about.

 

“I don’t know, sir.” Answered politely Sterling, the official driver of the lead car for the day, “The traffic started going slower a while ago, maybe there is some jam ahead.”

 

Nicholson hmmed, hand scratching his stubble.

 

“Stay sharp, guys.” He declared, eyes calculating, “The package is worth a lot to the client, we can’t let anything happen to it.”

 

While chorusing ‘Roger’ alongside his squadmates, Dale couldn’t stop himself from being grossed out by the callousness of their CO.

 

Calling her ‘the package’ or ‘it’ didn’t make the girl any less of a scared teenager.

 

Dale couldn’t stop himself to think about his own ten years old daughter when he looked back at the armored van behind him.

 

If only there was something he could do…

 

<“Good thinking, lad.”> A mysterious woman’s voice suddenly rang in his head.

 

Startled, he almost let his rifle fall but steadied his hand at the last second.

 

That’s when he heard it.

 

Or, rather, didn’t hear it.

 

Everything was silent around him. The coms and the radio had suddenly gone quiet and everyone in the car was apparently taking the best nap they ever had in their life.

 

Slowly taking stock of his situation, he lowered the rifle in his hands.

 

After all, it didn’t look like it could do jack shit in this situation despite the comforting weight of its presence.

 

A soft ‘thump’ sound was heard atop his head, the lead car settling a little lower on its spring.

 

<“Where were you bringing her ?”> The voice rang again.

 

Her, not it.

 

Trusting his gut feeling and not really knowing what else he could do, Dale answered aloud.

 

“We were briefed to bring her to Oscorp’s headquarters. The CEO apparently wanted to see her himself.” He rattled.

 

Another, more forceful, ‘thump’ sound echoed.

 

<“Who else knows ?”> The voice asked.

 

Slowly shaking his head, Dale answered.

 

“HQ only knew that we had a contract this morning, not any details. I swear.”

 

A pause.

 

Around Dale, everything remained silent.

 

<“I believe you.”> The voice finally said, <“They will forget everything about what happened today. I suggest you do the same.”>

 

Dale nodded.

 

“I will.” He answered.

 

Rummaging through his breast pocket to find his wallet, he took it out and opened it to the picture of a smiling little girl in the arms of her mother.

 

“Thank you.” Dale said under his breath, eyes locked on the immortalized smile of his own daughter.

 

The voice didn’t answer him.

 

***

Unspecified skyscraper’s rooftop, neighborhood of the Oscorp Tower, Manhattan, New York, the same day, 08:52

 

My eyes couldn’t leave Cindy’s unconscious form as I was busying myself wiping the integrality of Oscorp’s hard drives from the totality of their files out of spite.

 

The PMC that prick Norman had commanded to extract Cindy from her home had apparently drugged her to the gills to keep her quiet during transport.

 

I had totally lucked out when I zeroed onto them still being en route toward the tower by telepathy. The guy stinking of remorse and shame, Dale if I had it right from his superficial thoughts, had unconsciously helped me pinpoint their location.

 

An unshielded mind broadcasting very strong emotions was now the equivalent of a lighthouse to me.

 

I then proceeded to waltz in the tunnel, ordering the cars to slow down and putting all their passengers to sleep, and fetched my fellow student.

 

Once a pissed off driver at the back of the queue had started honking like mad, everyone more or less jerked up and everybody had been on their way in short order.

 

My only problem was the fact that I had inherited the beginning of a serious headache, probably a side-effect of overusing my yet-to-disappear mind-wipe ability.

 

“Can’t you do anything about it ? Because I have the impression someone is attempting to pierce through both of my temples with screws made of lava, and it is very distracting.” I ask aloud, not wanting to overtax my mind anymore than necessary.

 

“[Regret, worry] : I am sorry, but from what I’m seeing, this is not a physiological issue.” Iris answered apologetically.

 

I sigh.

 

“That’s alright, I was expecting something of the sort.” I tell my sister as the last few hard drives ‘conveniently’ forget all they have on them.

 

What a bunch of good lads. They deserve all the praise.

 

“[Regret, worry] : But you still have to handle the minds of those who know about Cindy and you’re in pain and I can’t help you and…” Iris starts to ramble.

 

“Don’t say that,” I answer, sending a clumsier than usual feeling of love on our shared-mind, “You’re doing the best you can since we have each other, but you’re not all powerful, you have to accept it.”

 

“[Love, worry] : Alright, blood-sister.” She shily answers.

 

“I love you too, sis’” I answer with a slight smile.

 

A beat passes as I look at the building in front of my eyes.

 

I narrow my baby blue orbs, considering.

 

“Think you’d be able to lift me on your own once I’m done ? I may not be able to move for a bit.” I ask aloud.

 

In answer, pink light flickers around me and I start to levitate a few inches from the ground.

 

“[Confidence] : It won’t be very fast because I only started to use it and my own touch-TK is not geared toward flight for now, but I can.” Iris answers.

 

“That’s ok, you only have to bring me back here. I have a feeling that wiping the mind of a whole building worth of people will be easier the closer I am, so I need to do it from somewhere along the middle of the tower.” I explain.

 

“[Worry, anxiety] : But how will you escape afterward ?” She asks anxiously.

 

“You’ll be in charge.” I answer decisively. “If I pass out, you bring me back here and you keep an eye on Cindy until she awakens. If she does so before me, you keep her here, by any means necessary. Feel free to give her the speech you heard me tell Gwen if she has any questions, that will keep her busy.”

 

“[Worry, anxiety] : But what do I do if anybody sees us ?” Iris retorts, mentally fidgeting.

 

“Let’s hope no one does because I have absolutely zero clues.” I drawl.

 

As Iris starts freaking out anew, I teleport myself at the top of the Oscorp Tower.

 

***

In the middle of the Oscorp Tower elevators cage, Oscorp Tower, Manhattan, New York, the same day, 08:57

 

Turns out infiltrating an hyper securised building when you can tell to the cameras, motion sensors and varied biological lock that you are their friend is stupidly easy.

 

As the place of choice to pull out my most recent, and probably self-debilitating, stunt, I chose the uncomfortable roof of an elevator that conveniently placed himself in the middle of the building after I asked politely.

 

I am now firmly focused on my mind-eye, gathering all the links that tie me with all the minds in my reach in my grasp.

 

There is a lot of agitation going on here, probably because they finally saw that they just lost all of their data.

 

Serves them right.

 

Norman is here, and he is both panicked and giddy at the same time. He must still be waiting for his ‘prize’ after all.

 

I’m going to do the world and myself a solid here, and make him conveniently forget about his congenital disease while I’m wiping Cindy’s existence from everyone’s mind.

 

I do not want to put him down simply because he could become a threat in the future, but I goddam will make sure he cannot become one either.

 

He will have to restart his research on his serum from scratch anyway.

 

I take a deep, deep breath.

 

“Wish me luck.” I softly say.

 

“[Care, worry] : Good luck Aria.” Iris hesitantly says.

 

I exhale.

 

My grasp on everyone’s mind tightens.

 

I push.

 

And everything goes black.

 

***

In the middle of the Oscorp Tower elevators cage, Oscorp Tower, Manhattan, New York, 08:58, in Iris’ mind

 

The side of the mind-link that belongs to Loved-cherished-blood-sister-Aria goes still as her body slag.

 

Despite suspecting it would come to it, I cannot help but be startled by it.

 

I had warned Loved-cherished-blood-sister-Aria that overusing her crumbling more potent abilities would have consequences.

 

She-host knew, but chose to do it nonetheless to save a life.

 

Calming the panic rising in my amorphous mind, I take stock of her situation.

 

She-host is healthy, still producing the life-substance even, and her side of the mind-link is no different than when she-host is asleep while cuddling-bonding-skinshipping.

 

I mock-exhale, a motion that I inherited from Loved-cherished-blood-sister-Aria, and raise up from our sitting position.

 

As our heads raise, I consider how to climb our way out of the Oscorp tower.

 

Our heads tilt and our claws extend.

 

We jump, my touch-TK empowering us flickering purple around our battle-form.

 

Our claws find purchase into the concrete, sharpness risen to the extreme by a quick life-block recombination and touch-TK coating.

 

I mock-nod to myself, another motion inherited from Loved-cherished-blood-sister-Aria.

 

That will do.

 

I flex and arch our bodies, and we jump anew.

 

Quickly reaching the last floor, I’m faced with a conundrum.

 

The doors are closed and I cannot ask nicely like Loved-cherished-blood-sister-Aria does.

 

I resolve to force them open, our claws sliding easily in the middle of the two metallic panels.

 

With a grinding sound, they give, and we are soon through.

 

I am faced with another conundrum.

 

There is a lock that requires a specific life-code to be opened and I do not have it.

 

Given enough time, I could probably fake one if I had too, but we need to be near Possible-friend-ally-Cindy as soon as possible.

 

I mock-shrug, another motion inherited from Loved-cherished-blood-sister-Aria, and slashes the door open.

 

We are on the rooftop of the tower.

 

There’s a lot of wind-that-blows and sunshine-that-blind here.

 

I pinpoint the location that we need to reach and we take a running start toward it.

 

Still empowered by my purple touch-TK, our steps are long and powerful.

 

I reach the end of the roof  and we jump-soar through the air.

 

Empowered by our inertia, we safely reach the rendez-vous point.

 

Possible-friend-ally-Cindy still looks asleep and safe, but she shivers a little.

 

I take stock of where there is less wind-that-blows before moving the both of us toward the most adequate spot.

 

Still carrying Possible-friend-ally-Cindy, my thoughts halt when I have to decide how we should let her rest.

 

I shift rapidly through Loved-cherished-blood-sister-Aria’s memories and find soon enough something that looks adequate.

 

I sit our bodies with our legs folded beneath us, our buttocks on the ball of our feet, pulling Possible-friend-ally-Cindy’s head on our thighs, and start to pat her hair gently, waiting for Loved-cherished-blood-sister-Aria's return.

 

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